Council Member Gary Schiff, who withdrew from contention after it became clear he would eventually not meet the threshhold to continue Saturday did not win enough support to proceed to the third ballot Saturday, threw his “second choice” support behind his colleague Betsy Hodges.

Schiff announced his decision in a speech outside the convention center auditorium, adding, “I am not suspending or dropping out of the mayor’s race today. There is a long time to go till November. There are many issues that need to be articulated.”

Schiff and Hodges’ sudden alliance appeared intended to block the endorsement of Mark Andrew. Hodges had 31.5 percent of the vote on the second ballot, Schiff had 25.2 percent, while Andrew had 42 percent.

“My second choice is the candidate who I believe most shares my progressive values and the values of the people that I fought for the last 12 years on the city council,” Schiff said.

In allying with Hodges, Schiff also lost one of his earliest and most important endorsements – the firefighters union. Union president Mark Lakosky was sporting a Mark Andrew sticker after the second ballot. The union adamantly opposes Hodges.

Lakosky said they would not be supporting Schiff after the convention because of the move. “As far as I’m concerned, Gary’s out,” Lakosky said. “Gary’s done with Minneapolis fire.”

Minneapolis police said they have linked two weekend shootings, which left residents frightened and sent some diving to the floor to avoid stray bullets, to an early-morning homicide last week that left a father of two dead on the city's North Side.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said his biggest regret as the county's top prosecutor was using grand juries to investigate the shootings of civilians by police, admitting that the process lacked transparency.

Meeting for the first time since the presidential election, the Minneapolis City Council on Friday affirmed their support for the city's minority groups and denounced policies they anticipate from President-elect Donald Trump's administration.